Sprinkler head receptacle



June 20, 1961 c, TRQPEANO ETAL 2,989,247

SPRINKLER HEAD RECEPTACLE Filed July 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

INVENTORS BY 1 1M ATTORNEY J. c. TROPEANO ETAL 2,989,247

SPRINKLER HEAD RECEPTACLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

lNVENTORaS June 20, 1961 Filed July 25, 19 60 ATTORNEY M W: 3 d ww 9- Y HR HI. 7 B

United States Patent 2,989,247 SPRINKLER HEAD RECEPTACLE Joseph C. Tropeano, 20 Revere St., and Philip L. Tropeano, 12 Revere St., both of Lexington, Mass. Filed July 25, 1960, Ser. No. 44,982 Claims. (Cl. 239-206) This invention relates to sprinkler apparatus and in particular to automatic lawn sprinklers of the type commonly employed in sprinkling large lawns, golf fairways and similar areas where a controlled amount of water is required to be applied to the ground regularly. Sprinklers of this class are customarily connected to an underground water main, and consist essentially of a reciprocating sprinkler head which rises out of the ground in response to water pressure and revolves to throw a stream of water over a desired area. When the water pressure is shut off in the water main, the sprinkler head drops down onto the ground or adjacent supporting structure.

In the case of certain areas, for example golf fairways, it is necessary to provide a relatively extended stream of water to cover a typical fairway area of from 150 feet to 200 feet. This in turn necessitates the use of a relatively long nozzle in a range of lengths of, for example, from one foot up to two feet and larger. It will be appreciated that if the sprinkler head, when at rest, is allowed to project above ground level, it may constitute an objectionable obstacle in the golf fairway. Moreover, in the range of lengths in the fairway to receive the sprinkler head as it drops down at some point in its path of rotation would necessarily require a hole in the fairway of objectionable nature.

It is a chief object of the invention to improve sprinkler apparatus of the class indicated and to devise a novel sprinkler head receptacle in which relatively long nozzles may be compactly contained to avoid the difiiculties noted above.

Another object of the invention is to combine with an automatic type sprinkler head of the class described, a nozzle guiding mechanism whereby an elongated nozzle may, when water pressure is shut off in a main, be guided into the same relative position of storage each time the sprinkler is used, and as a result, a relatively narrow sprinkler receptacle may be employed to fully contain and cover the apparatus at ground level when sprinkling is not being carried on.

The nature of the invention and its objects and novel features will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a water main and sprinkler head system of the automatic type with which the nozzle guiding mechanism and nozzle receptacle of the invention is combined and partly indicated in cross section;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the sprinkler head in a raised position and showing the sprinkler head receptacle and nozzle guiding mechanism of the invention as viewed from a position at right angles to that of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a plan cross section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring more in detail to the structure shown in FIG. 1, numeral 2 denotes a standard type of water main employed for piping a supply of water underground to various desired areas. As shown in the drawings, the water main is intended to illustrate an underground installation for a golf fairway.

Connected to the water main 2 is an inlet pipe 4 which communicates with remote control valve 6 of the conventional type and which may be electrically operated from a Patented June 20, 1961 distant point. Also connected to the control valve 6 is an outlet pipe 8 which is connected by suitable elbows 10 and 12 to the base 14 of a vertically reciprocating sprinkler head generally denoted by the arrow 8.

The apparatus S includes a cylinder 16 in which is received a plunger 18 in sealing contact with a sealing ring 20 located in a ring groove at the upper end of the cylinder 16. Threaded into the top of the plunger 18 is a sprinkler head unit 22 from which extends an elongated nozzle 24.

The apparatus above described may be of conventional construction and operates in response to water pressure being turned on in the water main by the valve 6. The sprinkler rises into a position such as that shown in FIG. 2 and thereafter revolves about a vertical axis and throws out a desired stream of water over a relatively large area.

In accordance with the invention, I combine with the vertically reciprocating sprinkler head S, a special protective housing and nozzle guiding mechanism. Numeral 30 denotes the protective housing which may, for example, consist of an aluminum casting, or other desired material. This housing 30 is of a length and width slightly greater than corresponding dimensions of the sprinkler head and nozzle 24, and the overall shape of the housing generally conforms to these parts in the manner suggested in FIG. 3.

The depth of the housing 30 is further chosen such that it may be recessed at ground level in the ground G as shown in FIG. 1 and may, in this position, conveniently contain the head and nozzle sections in a recessed position. Extending downwardly from a central section of the housing 30 is a tubular part 32 which is adapted to fit around the cylinder 16 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

By means of the construction described, it will be apparent that only a very narrow opening need be formed in the ground as shown in FIG. 3, andthis opening in the housing is in accordance with the invention readily closed when the sprinkler is not operating. For purposes of closing the opening, we provide an elongated cover 36 which is adapted to be solidly secured to the top of the sprinkler head in some suitable manner, such as that suggested in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is intended that the cover may be provided with a soft rubber coating and colored a shade to generally blend in with the grass of a golf course fairway.

It is pointed out that with the sprinkler head and cover 36 in a raised position, such as shown in FIG. 2, a considerable amount of weight is exerted downwardly. As a result shutting olf pressure in the water main instantly allows gravity to force the sprinkler head and cover downwardly towards the housing. In order to bring the nozzle 24 and cover 36 into register with the container 30, we have further provided a nozzle guiding mechanism which is made up of two parts. One part consists of a vertical guide rod 40 fixed to the cover and having its lower end formed with a helical portion 42 arranged to extend around the tubular supporting section of the sprinkler head 30. Cooperating with the helical portion 42 is a stop member 44 which may, if desired, be mounted for rotation and which is adapted to lie in the path of travel of the helical screw 42 as it drops downwardly with removal of water pressure. By means of the stop and the helical portion 42, it becomes possible to lower the sprinkler head and elongated nozzle 24 into a correctly aligned position with the housing 30 so that the nesting position shown in FIG. 1 may be accomplished after each usage of the sprinkler head.

It will be apparent that by means of this simple and efficient helical guide arrangement, a positive location of the sprinkler head in its housing may always be obtained and, therefore, the use of a relatively narrow housing becomes entirely practical even when housing a relatively long nozzle of the class described. The entire arrangement is thus of compact nature well adapted to usage for the purposes indicated.

The helical guide shown in the drawings is intended to be illustrative of various other helical arrangements as, for example, one in which a helix comprising a helical track may be provided in the housing, and a follower supported on the cover may be used to ride in the helical track when the sprinkler head is lowered.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention generally, it should be understood that various other changes and modifications may be resorted to in keeping with the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination a vertically reciprocating sprinkler head having a tubular base section and an elongated nozzle communicating with the base section, a relatively narrow protective housing for containing the sprinkler head and elongated nozzle in a stored position below ground level, a cover fixed to the sprinkler head and adapted to close the protective housing, nozzle guiding means including a nozzle turning element attached to the underside of the cover and a stationary element secured in the tubular base section, said stationary element cooperating with the nozzle turning element to engage therewith and rotate the nozzle into a predetermined position of register with the said protective housing when the nozzle moves into a lowered position.

2. A structure according to claim 1 in which the nozzle guiding means includes a helical member extending around the reciprocating sprinkler head.

3. A structure according to claim 2 in which the stationary element of the nozzle turning element consist in a stop member cooperating with the helical element to turn the sprinkler head into a desired position as it is lowered.

4. An improved sprinkler apparatus comprising in combination a vertically reciprocating sprinkler head having an elongated nozzle portion, a narrow sprinkler head receptacle for containing the sprinkler head and nozzle portion in a stored position below ground level, a cover element fixed to the said sprinkler head and adapted to completely close the receptacle when the sprinkler head is in a lowered position, said receptacle being formed with 21 depending tubular extension having a projection formed on the inner periphery thereof, and a helical guide element fixed to the said cover and operatively engaged with the said projection to turn the sprinkler head and position the elongated nozzle in register with the said receptacle.

5. A structure according to claim 4 in which the helical member extends vertically downward from the underside of the cover for a short distance and then passes around the base of the sprinkler head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,821,579 Rader Sept. 1, 1931 2,325,280 Scherrer July 27, 1943 2,757,045 Nullet July 31, 1956 2,768,029 Stinson Oct. 23, 1956 

